


The Kidnapping of Luke and Leia

by WingletBlackbird



Series: Jedi History, Organisation, and Culture [11]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Adoption, Gen, Kidnapping, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27579878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingletBlackbird/pseuds/WingletBlackbird
Summary: Where the legality and ethics of Luke and Leia's adoption/fostering are considered. Was it legal? Was it ethical? The answer to one may not be the same as the other.
Series: Jedi History, Organisation, and Culture [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1217043
Comments: 9
Kudos: 14





	The Kidnapping of Luke and Leia

I don’t think I have ever seen anyone discuss this, but have you ever considered that from a legal standpoint, and certainly from Anakin/Vader’s point of view, Luke and Leia were kidnapped? I mean, initially, the Jedi and Bail Organa do believe that Luke and Leia are orphans, but they change nothing of their behaviour when they find out otherwise. Anakin/Vader did not give his consent for his children to be given up for adoption, ergo they were kidnapped. Nowhere did the biological parents terminate their parental rights.

Additionally, even if Luke and Leia’s biological father were dead, did Padme or Anakin have a Will? Did they say who they wanted their children’s guardians to be in the case of their mutual deaths? It is unlikely given the circumstances, so Luke and Leia’s adoption/fostering ought to have been dealt with by family, not strangers. Who are the Jedi to decide this? Who are Yoda and Obi-Wan to up and decide where these kids get to go? Were the Naberries ever informed? No. Were the Lars family told the whole truth? No.

Hence, even if Anakin/Vader were dead, a case could still be made that what happened was unethical. Now, this does not mean that I am against what happened, or unsympathetic. After Obi-Wan saw Anakin/Vader strangle his pregnant wife, (on top of everything else), he had reason to believe Anakin/Vader would be an unfit parent. He also had reason to believe that it would jeapordise the children to not hide them away, including tell their biological families the truth. They could hardly appeal to the Empire to have the children’s best interest at heart. I entirely understand why the Jedi did what they did.

I do feel a bit squicky about it though. The reason being that I feel even if there were no reason to believe that Vaderkin would be unfit to parent, the Jedi would still have taken the children anyway lest they be raised by a Sith. By that logic, you could kidnap any child because they were raised by Imperials, or anyone whose philosophy and ideology you disagree with. That is very, very wrong. 

(BTW, has anyone ever written a fanfic where Leia is unseated as Princess of Alderaan on the grounds that her adoption was illegitimate?)


End file.
